Bitcoin Cash finally underwent its much-discussed hard fork yesterday, and the early results do not make pretty viewing for Bitcoin SV (BCHSV) chief Craig Wright. An initial tweet from Wright claiming that BCHSV was ahead didn’t age well, as Bitcoin ABC (BCHABC) soon raced ahead in the hash rates, peaking at almost 9,000 PH/s compared to BCHSV, which slumped before slowly before creeping back up to around 4,000 PH/s, still well behind BCHABC.
Leading exchange Binance also listed both coins Friday, with BCHSV recording the biggest gain in price, from $80 to around $120 after initially peaking at $150.
“Faketoshi” Claims BCHABC Hash Rate is Rented
Wright, who claims he is pseudonymous Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto, had been prolific on social media in the days and hours leading up to the fork, but has gone largely silent since, except for a Medium article posted Friday in which he stated:
“As fully expected, Bitcoin ABC appeared to take a temporary lead on the first day by receiving an artificial boost from temporary, “rented” hash power subsidized by Roger Ver’s organization Bitcoin.com, which announced it would use its pool customer hash on BCH for just 24 hours, and from ABC’s main supporter Bitmain Technologies…”
Whilst Wright is correct in that the first twenty-four hours by themselves don’t mean very much, it’s doubtful that he would have been quite so circumspect had BCHSV been the one taking such a commanding early lead. The article also references a quote from Jiang Zhuo’er of major Chinese mining pool BTC.TOP who claimed that, “If the hash war breaks out, over 100 million yuan ($14.3 million) will be spent each day.”
Wright claims in the article that this is what BCHABC front men Roger Ver and Jihan Wu are now spending to prop up their hash rate. Ver and Wu for their part have been largely silent since the fork, perhaps also waiting to see how events play out before commenting, which would represent something of a first in the war of words that has led to this point.
Time Will Tell
At the present time, approximately sixteen hours after the chain split, 140 blocks have been mined with Bitcoin ABC 44 blocks ahead and with a superior hash rate of 69%. However, while every change in block difference is being scrutinized by both sides as evidence for a potential victory or defeat, we will have to wait until Monday at least to have a clearer idea whether BCHSV can claw back some ground, and if the so-called rented hash power for BCHABC dwindles as the money runs out.
